Bristle Meaning
/ˈbɹɪsəl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA stiff or coarse hair on a nonhuman mammal or on a plant.
nounA chaeta: an analogous filament on arthropods, annelids, or other animals.
Sentence Examples
Soft bristle paintbrushes are best for watercolour painting.
the bristles of a pig
CEFR Practice Quiz
The cat's fur began to ____ when it saw the dog.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The cat's hair began to ____ when it saw the large dog in the yard.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English bristil, bristel, brustel, from Old English bristl, byrst, *brystl, *byrstel, from Proto-West Germanic *burstilu, diminutive of Proto-West Germanic *bursti, from Proto-Germanic *burstiz (compare Dutch borstel, German Borste (“boar's bristle”), Icelandic burst), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰr̥stís (compare Middle Irish brostaid (“to goad, spur”), Latin fastīgium (“top”), Polish barszcz (“hogweed”)).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"His hair did bristle upon his head."
— 1805, Walter Scott, “(please specify the page)”, in The Lay of the Last Minstrel: A Poem, London: […] [James Ballantyne] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], and A[rchibald] Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:
"He sat down with his elbows upon the desk, his gorilla hands clasped together, his beard bristling forward, and his big grey eyes, half-covered by his drooping lids, fixed benignly upon me."
— 1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Disintegration Machine:
"the hill of La Haye Sainte bristling with ten thousand bayonets"
— 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 5, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
"ports bristling with thousands of masts"
— 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter II, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
"Kieran Tierney did not want to risk a challenge on Pulisic, who darted on to the ball with far greater purpose, and the dink over Emi Martínez bristled with composure."
— 2020 August 1, David Hytner, “Aubameyang at the double as Arsenal turn tables on Chelsea to win FA Cup”, in The Guardian:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The cat's fur began to ____ when it saw the dog.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The cat's hair began to ____ when it saw the large dog in the yard.